The present invention relates to wire stents and related vascular devices. More particularly, it refers to a stent or other vascular positioned device containing a wire coated with a biocompatible fluoropolymer.
My prior application includes stents made from interwoven groups of yarn filaments containing a wire. U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,399 issued Dec. 19, 2000 and entitled, “Process for Manufacturing a Wire Reinforced Monolayer Fabric Stent” is hereby incorporated by reference. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,545 describes wire stents immobilized longitudinally between tubes of expandable polytetrafluoroethylene. U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,954 describes braiding a stent and a polytetrafluoroethylene textile strand sleeve together in an axial alignment. U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,432 describes an endovascular tube made from woven graft material with a wire employed in openings in the weave. U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,325 describes a self-expanding intraluminal prosthesis containing interwoven fibers including reinforcing wire. U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,478 describes how to make a prosthesis from an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) tube with a winding of PTFE.
It also is well known in the prior art to coat insulated wire with foamed fluoropolymer insulation as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,819. None of these prior art disclosures teach how to coat a wire used in a prosthesis with a porous expanded PTFE to create uniform expansion of the prosthesis.